South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1887-10-07
ABOUT BEDS.
Some Of Their Peculiarities in
Ancient Times.
Beds and Bedsteads Formerly
Used in England.


Greeks and the Romans had their beds
supported on frames that rcsemblei our
modern bedsteads, feather and wool
mattresses were common, and the bed
clothing, in the luxurious period of each
nation, was richly decorated with elab-
Grated needle work. The Britons, when
conquered by Cesar, slept on skins, after
the manner of our North American In
dians, but at later period they made
use of straw sacks as beds. The ancient
Egyptians had couch Of peculiar shape
and profusion of soft cushions and
richly embroidered drapcry. Most of
the beds mentioned in the Bible were
probably of the ordinary simple kind.
During the middle ages beds were
made of coarse canvas and filled with
straw or leaves. These could be opened
and the litter re-made daily, rs is the
custom today with the mattresses in the
old-fashioned inns of France and Italy.
The bedstcads were low-posted and usu-
ally had canopy at the head In the
Bayeux tapestry Edward the Confessor
is represented lying upon rniscd seat,
his head supported by squared pillows,
and the canopy over his head is attached
to the wall. Scott in his romance of
'1vanhoe," describes one of the beds in
the mansion of Cedric the Saxon, as con-
sisting of rude clutch or bed frame.
stuffed with clean straw and accommo-
dated with two or three shcepskins by
way of bed-clothes." The bed of the
Lady Rowena twas adorned with rich
tapestry and surrounded with curtains of
dyed purple"
The house of the ancient English
gentleman was not, as n general thing,
provided with bedrooms. A chamber
or shed was built against the wall that
inclosed the mansion and its depcnden-
cies, and in this little cell the lord and
his lady slept Sometimes there was
mother chamber of the same kind built
Tor the daughter or young ladies of the
house. Many illusions to such bed
rooms arc found in Chaucer. AS gene
raj thing the young men of the house
ana the guests slept on tables and
benches in the great hall where wooden
coverlets or blankets were provided for
warmth. Servants and attendants slept
on the floor.
Later on, IN the time of the Tudors,
the 'four-poste bcdstead," an immense
piece oil furniture, having a canopy sup
porter at each corner of the posts, be-
came the fashionable sleeping couch.
Some of the old wills mention '4posted
sctt work bedstcads." These paneled
bcdsteads were sometimes of elegant and
massive architecture The columns re-
sembled huge balustcrs, and rose from
square dado bases and all the frame
pieces were carved with decorative
holdings of various patterns. On some
of the earlier bedsteads the column ter
minated with figures representing the
fonr evangclists.
Under these great 'sct work" bed
steads were put trundle-beds for the
III
lated of Spanish page who went to
England with his master in the time of
Queen Elizabeth, that one day, while
wandering about the spacious mansion,
he entered the rooms where the maids
were making the beds, and spying the
arrangements of the sliding beds was
quite taken with them. In his own
country he had slept on straw in the
hostler's loft, but in England he had
found that rather uncomfortable on ac-
count of the cold. So he SAYS to his
masters; "Sir, there are sort of little
beds under the great beds in this house,
which they say are for servants; I pray
you to suffer me to lie in one of Them
In the sleeping chamber was usually
''perch," answering to an old fashioned
clothes-horse. On it, says an old writ
er, "hang your clothes, mantlcs, frocks,
cloaks, doubets, furs, winter clothes
and Of summer"
Shakcspeare's "second best bed, with
''the furniture" which ne beaueathed
to his wife, Ann Hathaway, was I'M
doubleday one Of those huge Eliza
bcthan bcdsteads with canopy, curtains
and square pillows. The furniture CON
sisted of the changed BEDS harden
sheets, Of fine lax, clock beds cover
lets" 'pillow beer" aud counter
coints, " so named from the fact that the
squares were in contrasting colors. The
well-to-do gentleman of the late middle
ages kept good supply Of bedding.
The Great Bed Of Ware" mentioned
by Shakespeare is probably the largest
bed in the world II is Of Tudor STYLE.
twelve feet square, Of solid oak. and
deliberately carved For three centuries
or more it has been preserved at tho inn
of the Saraccn's head in the town OF
Ware, in lIartfordshirc. As many M
twelve persons are said TO have slept in
1t at one time. II Cosmopolitan Review.